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Macbook Pro recommendation
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Macbook Pro recommendation

fggs 1:12 AM - 7 November, 2017
Good evening guys,

I don't know if this is the right place to ask or I should have asked in Serato DJ section of the forum.

I'm currently playing from a Hackintosh on a Core2Duo 2.4, 4GB but it is time to retire it, so I'm looking for a second hand Macbook Pro that can last for 3 to 5 years just for Serato.

Do you think a Macbook Pro i5 4GB from 2013 would be ok? About storage, a 500GB should be enough, no? Is it common to play off external drives?

Regards,
Flavio
DjSyndic8 5:05 AM - 7 November, 2017
Quote:
Good evening guys,

I don't know if this is the right place to ask or I should have asked in Serato DJ section of the forum.

I'm currently playing from a Hackintosh on a Core2Duo 2.4, 4GB but it is time to retire it, so I'm looking for a second hand Macbook Pro that can last for 3 to 5 years just for Serato.

Do you think a Macbook Pro i5 4GB from 2013 would be ok? About storage, a 500GB should be enough, no? Is it common to play off external drives?

Regards,
Flavio


that MBP should work fine I use a MBP 2012 2.7ghz i7 16gb ram laptop running Yosemite and using a 3tb external USB 3 hard drive works flawlessly... hardware: DDJ SX2 and DDJSR2

I prefer my music on external because you can use another laptop straight away if your laptop dies
fggs 10:45 AM - 7 November, 2017
Thanks for your response!

Yes, yours is much more powerful, so I guess I should look a bit more. Have you add more ram or it came with 16GB?
DjSyndic8 10:48 AM - 7 November, 2017
Quote:
Thanks for your response!

Yes, yours is much more powerful, so I guess I should look a bit more. Have you add more ram or it came with 16GB?


it came with 8gb I added another 8 because there was a spare slot :)
fggs 11:03 AM - 7 November, 2017
Found a Macbook Pro i7 2.9GHz, 8GB of RAM and 750GB of HDD (Mid 2012)

Battery seems to be with ~280 cycles.

Do you think I will be ok with it for a few years in terms of Serato?
fggs 11:04 AM - 7 November, 2017
Forgot to say its model: MD102II/A
Ariel M 3:47 PM - 7 November, 2017
Quote:
Found a Macbook Pro i7 2.9GHz, 8GB of RAM and 750GB of HDD (Mid 2012)

Battery seems to be with ~280 cycles.

Do you think I will be ok with it for a few years in terms of Serato?



I have Macbook with that specs as my main laptop for Djing, it didn't gave me headache eversince I bought it. My only concern is after Serato DJ updated its software beyond 1.7.8 the waveform was a little bit jittery, but SDJ never crashed on me ever.

If you're not miticulous about waveform, then go for it.
fggs 5:31 PM - 7 November, 2017
What do you mean about jitter on the waveform? You mean the waveform has some delay within the sound?

I'll receive it tomorrow it seems, then do a factory reset and test.

Thank you for your feedback on this :)
DjSyndic8 8:33 PM - 7 November, 2017
Quote:
Found a Macbook Pro i7 2.9GHz, 8GB of RAM and 750GB of HDD (Mid 2012)

Battery seems to be with ~280 cycles.

Do you think I will be ok with it for a few years in terms of Serato?


that's perfect.... if you use it purely for djing then its perfect... Ive had mine since 2012 and its never caused any issues at all and until now i was running mountain lion on it with no issues at all, these laptops will last a long time if you look after it and don't update the osx unless its really necessary like i had to update to yosemite because my ddjsr2 drivers will only work with newer osx's
Ariel M 10:12 PM - 7 November, 2017
Quote:
What do you mean about jitter on the waveform? You mean the waveform has some delay within the sound?

I'll receive it tomorrow it seems, then do a factory reset and test.

Thank you for your feedback on this :)



jitter or stutter = not smooth

Once you reset it. You may optimize your mac if you want to although not necessary as this computer is more and powerful enough to run SDJ. There is an optimization guide by Serato somewhere in this site, just search for it. Good luck with your mac.
DjSyndic8 8:29 AM - 8 November, 2017
Quote:
Quote:
There is an optimization guide by Serato somewhere in this site, just search for it. Good luck with your mac.


Mac Optimization Guide===>support.serato.com

fggs 10:27 AM - 8 November, 2017
Thanks guys! I really appreciate your help on this!
heathledger871 7:16 AM - 23 August, 2019
The recommendation you are providing is good. But if you not properly checked about the software update then you might be faced some problem with iTunes. If you going for the software update of MacBook then after that you Can't install itunes and it's a big problem for solving. So I suggest at first check the system compatibility. So I suggest you go through itunessupport.org for the best solution.
DJ Irv 7:25 PM - 31 August, 2019
Not sure if this helps anyone but, I bought a $10 adapter on Amazon that will let me use a non apple NVMe drive. Seems to work perfectly on a 2015 13" Macbook Pro I have lying around.
www.amazon.com

I feel most of the problems people have with older macs with proprietary drives is running out of room.


I plan to buy a 1TB SSD for it the macbook and use it out a while.
albertojohanna 9:13 AM - 29 February, 2020
Apple MacBook Pro MUHN2LL/A is a very good option for all users. I have also bought one after sending my laptop to the Acer Laptop Services Center.
www.uaetechnician.com